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Downcast vs Dispirited vs Dejected vs Depressed vs Disconsolate vs Woebegone

Downcast, dispirited, dejected, depressed, disconsolatewoebegone mean affected by or showing very low spirits.

Downcast implies a being overcome by shame, mortification, or loss of hope or confidence; it usually suggests an inability to face others or an utter lack of cheerfulness.

Dispirited implies extreme low-spiritedness occasioned by failure to accomplish or to get what one wants or to achieve what one wishes to attain; it usually implies discouragement or a being disheartened.

Dejected implies greater prostration of the spirits than either downcast or dispirited with sudden but often temporary loss of hope, courage, or vigor.

Depressed suggests a sinking under a heavy weight or a burden too great to be borne; it may express a temporary or a chronic mood or reaction and may, unlike the other terms of this group, indicate a serious inability to be normally active and happy.

Disconsolate fundamentally implies comfortlessness and carries a strong suggestion of being inconsolable or exceptionally uncomfortable; it may sometimes suggest no more than a frame of mind in which depression and disappointment are associated with discomfort or grief.

Woebegone usually suggests a frame of mind but it emphasizes the impression of dejection and defeat produced on an observer not only by the facial expression and posture of the one observed but also by his surroundings or quarters: it may imply dejection, depression, or merely discouragement in the persons affected or desolation or dilapidation in their surroundings, but the overall impression is that of a defeated, spiritless condition.